Good news everyone!
I **FINALLY** saw some rain on the local SMP server I've been running. No lightning, but I did start a few fires myself to see what would happen.
See for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XTGGqQtMj8
Forgive the unusual texture pack. I was trying out a few others (this one being Quandary) to pick-and-choose some new item textures.
Spoiler (click to toggle):
| Result: Great success! Rainfall actually does a very good job at trying to put out any fires exposed to it. |